ORTOFON
2M Bronze
Cartridges

Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Thomas A. Naccarato
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: February 12, 2014

Bottom Line:

*Bought in 2013,, there was no option for any year over 2010 for some reason.

..The 2M Bronze is mounted in a VPI JMW-9T tapered tonearm. It is a superb tracker and has a wide soundstage with carefully-positioning of the instruments in the stereo field. Low-end response is honest, not overdone. Midrange is as near perfect as I've heard from a MM cart. The treble is free of sibilance and only sounds exaggerated on less-than-stellar LP pressings.
Overall, this is a fantastic cart for classical and jazz. It is great with rock as well, but speed metal and other "heavy" metal might benefit from a less honest, more bass-filled performer.
I have always liked the Ortofon MM carts and this one surprised me at how well it tracked my vinyl. Recommended.

It is very good! I have only a couple negatives to say: the bass could have more grip and details on the lower register but it is full and deep and detailed in the upper bass. The high frequencies are detailed and sometimes uncover too much the vinyl faults.

On the positive side: the frequency spectrum is full, consistent, and not harsh, highs are crystal clear, timbre is accurate, doesn’t sound sterile.

If i had over 1k I would buy a MC to get a better midrange and full 3d, otherwise this great cartridge is not holding back.

Recently upgraded from the 2m blue. The blue sounded good but my listening need's were not fulfilled.Seem's like a relatively long break in, but that's okay(has been raining all week). Some serious change's the cartridge goe's thru during break in.All good, thought I may need to step up to the 2m black but as of lately I am uncertertain that I want to.Can be quite engaging with the right music and set up.Much more dynamic,open and detailed than the blue. Another great thing was my dealer gave me full trade in credit on the blue (3 month's old). Very happy with the upgrade, have just went back to vinyl recently and am glad I did.

Having had an Ortofon ULM 55E cartridge which was stock with my DUAL CS 606 turntable for 27 years now and noticing that the quality of my CD player was superior to my turntable’s on identical recordings during some A/B tests, I figured that the time for an upgrade was past due. Since I chose to keep the Dual which had given me flawless performance all these years, a cartridge replacement was the obvious choice. I had purchased an adapter in order to mount a non Dual ULM cartridge on the 606 so I was ready to proceed on an upgrade.
I opted for the Ortofon 2M Bronze although I was reluctant to dish out nearly 250 Euros with no guarantee that a considerable difference would be heard on a modest entry-level table. I had thought of the Ortofon OM 30 which would have been a considerable improvement over the existing cartridge, but my penchant went for the 2M Bronze as many were waxing hyperbole about it. So I dug deep in my pockets and hoped for the best.
When it arrived, to my disappointment there was no obvious specs sheet nor instruction on how to use the enclosed stylus pressure gauge. Later I discovered that the specs were written somewhere on a the box itself. It did come however with a small booklet instructing on mounting the cartridge which facilitated installation.
I mounted the cartridge with help of a cartridge alignment protractor free from Enjoy the Music and an audio test record.
Now as for the sound, I must say that my whole vinyl collection came to life. For once I experienced the clarity and transparency hitherto unheard from my turntable. Cymbals were crystal clear with no abrasiveness. Vocals have depth and clarity and the entire musical spectrum came into focus. If such can be had from a modest entry level Dual turntable, I now wonder how much better it will sound with a better such as the Thorens TD125 or Dual 721.